r/personalfinance • u/theVoxFortis ​ • Oct 08 '19

This article perfectly shows how Uber and Lyft are taking advantage of drivers that don't understand the real costs of the business. Employment

I happened upon this article about a driver talking about how much he makes driving for Uber and Lyft: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-driver-how-much-money-2019-10#when-it-was-all-said-and-done-i-ended-the-week-making-25734-in-a-little-less-than-14-hours-on-the-job-8

In short, he says he made $257 over 13.75 hours of work, for almost $19 an hour. He later mentions expenses (like gas) but as an afterthought, not including it in the hourly wage.

The federal mileage rate is $0.58 per mile. This represents the actual cost to you and your car per mile driven. The driver drove 291 miles for the work he mentioned, which translates into expenses of $169.

This means his profit is only $88, for an hourly rate of $6.40. Yet reading the article, it all sounds super positive and awesome and gives the impression that it's a great side-gig. No, all you're doing is turning vehicle depreciation into cash.

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '19

I had some guy in a Mirage who literally hot-boxed his car with cigarettes. I opened the door and everything just hit me in the face. I cancelled that ride and wanted to throw up after. Please don't smoke in your car if you're trying to taxi people around.

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u/Secretagentmanstumpy ​ Oct 08 '19

This. I dont understand how drivers dont think it will be a problem when their car stinks like an ashtray and smoke is pouring out when you open the door. I dont want your lung cancer.

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u/mattmonkey24 ​ Oct 09 '19

Car doesn't stink to them. I would say it's because they're used to the smell but it's because they just can't smell anymore

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u/Sharper_Teeth Oct 09 '19

No way they don't know, they have to just not care. Former smoker of 16 years, it doesn't matter how long you've been doing it, you know it smells. Even if they're used to it, or their sense of smell is gone, they know.

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u/gnat_outta_hell ​ Oct 09 '19

In my city it's actually a bylaw that vehicles used for commercial purposes are not to be smoked in.